Yesterday was the last day of Parliament for Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who has resigned from all his political appointments in order to run for president.

In Parliament, Leader of the House Indranee Rajah paid tribute to the Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) and Tharman, who has served as a Member of Parliament for more than two decades since 2001.

Today will be his last day in office.

Many contributions across wide ranging sectors

In her remarks, Indranee listed some of the many contributions that Tharman made in his various ministerial appointments -- the Minister for Education, Minister for Finance, Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Senior Minister.

He also served as the Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Deputy Chairman of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) and chaired its Investment Strategies Committee.

Indranee highlighted that Tharman delivered Budget statements in Parliament that boosted Singapore's economic growth, and helped steer Singapore through the global financial crisis between 2007 and 2009.

Tharman also oversaw economic restructuring efforts, including chairing the economic strategies committee post-crisis to promote inclusive and resilient economic growth and ensure fiscal sustainability.

Other notable contributions that Tharman made and was mentioned in his last day in Parliament include:

• Introducing the net investment returns or NIR framework, which provided additional resources for government spending to benefit Singaporeans.
• Introducing the permanent GST Voucher scheme to help lower-to-middle income Singaporeans cope with their GST expenses.
• Introducing the Direct School Admission Scheme, and the removal of streaming at primary levels, to provide Singapore students with more educational pathways and opportunities.
• Having led the SkillsFuture programme to encourage lifelong learning and upskilling among Singaporeans.
• Paying special attention to uplifting wages and improving retirement adequacy, especially for the lower wage workers, through measures such as the Progressive Wage Model, Wage Credit Scheme, Workfare Income Supplement and refining our Central Provident Fund system.
• Chairing the National Jobs Council to safeguard jobs and create employment and training opportunities for Singaporeans during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We will miss a friend"

Indranee also noted that SM's "greatest gift" is in making complex economic principles sound simple and his colleagues will miss his wit and dry humour.

"Most of all, we will miss a friend and a fellow Member of Parliament," Indranee concluded.

Indranee also shared appreciation towards the nine Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) who have completed their term:

• Abdul Samad Bin Abdul Wahab
• Janet Ang Guat Har
• Chay Jung Jun, Mark
• Hoon Hian Teck
• Cheng Hsing Yao
• Koh Lian Pin
• Joshua Thomas Raj
• Shahira Binte Abdullah
• Tan Yia Swam

She highlighted their contributions during several important Parliamentary debates and motions, such as the repeal of 377A and the Constitutional Amendment on the definition of marriage, the Covid-19 measures, the Singapore Green Plan and the White Paper on Women's Development.

Top image via screenshot of MCI Singapore YouTube video